Property owners near Ladd-Peebles Stadium exempt from paying business license to park cars

MOBILE, Alabama – Private property owners will be able to
park cars on their own lots without paying a fee to city government, the Mobile City
Council decided Tuesday.

With a 6-1 vote, the council approved a waiver of the city's
temporary business license for property owners utilizing their private lots for
parking during football games at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. The exemption is good
for people living within a one-mile radius of the stadium.

"What we did was legalize what has been a precedent for 50
years," Manzie said after the meeting. "Hopefully this will remedy the
situation from the last Senior Bowl where citizens were ticketed and fined for
not securing a business license."

The ordinance does require property owners to get one permit:
They must approach the Mobile Police Department and acquire an annual permit to
utilize their property for parking purposes during Ladd-Peebles Stadium events.
There is no fee for the permit, but the property owner must possess the permit during
game days.

In addition, the ordinance allows someone who doesn't own
property near the stadium to operate a parking lot as long as the owner
provides written permission.

The police involvement was included as a way to avoid
problems that sometimes arise near the stadium in which people will park cars
on a private lot despite having any ownership claims to it nor any
relationships with the property owner.

"If they don't have a permit or written permissions (they
won't be allowed to park cars)," Manzie said. "That will nullify all the bad
and make it an orderly process for everyone to follow."

The only "No" vote came from Councilman John Williams, who
said he felt there should not be specialized exemptions for people earning a
profit from having to pay a temporary business license.

"I don't really think anyone ought to be exempt from the business
license process," Williams said. "It's a business making a profit."

Williams has, in the past, cited examples of people who have
to pay the city for the temporary license such as someone who sells Christmas
trees during the holiday season.

"I see no difference between (the parking lot operator near
Ladd-Peebles Stadium) and someone selling things at the corner of Azalea and
Cottage Hill or the Christmas tree lot (operator)," Williams said. "It's a
seasonal business and for-profit. I just have a tough time with it."

Manzie said the comparisons are "apples and oranges" because
the property owners only profit twice during the year during the GoDaddy and
Senior bowl games.

Jerryln London, who owns private property next to Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala., holds up her receipt from paying a one-day business license during the Senior Bowl on Jan. 25, 2014. London approached the City Council in February about her concerns with the city's level of enforcement during the bowl game. Her concerns triggered action that was approved on Tuesday, April 8, 2014, with the council voting in an exemption to the business license for those living within a one-mile radius of the stadium. (John Sharp/jsharp@al.com).

He said that the University of South Alabama football games "do
not have the volume" of cars that generate strong business for the property
owners. Those games could see a boost in activity this year with games against Mississippi
State, Troy and Navy added to the Jaguars' 2014 schedule.

Manzie said by requiring residents to purchase a temporary
business license makes the parking lot activity around the stadium cost
prohibitive. Without the private parking lots, Manzie said, the city and the
stadium would be in trouble.

The temporary business licenses, required by a city revenue
officer during the Senior Bowl, cost one resident $138. Depending on the
location of a lot, property owners will charge between $10 to $20 for parking.

"What would happen if they together and collectively said we
will not allow any parking in our private lots?" Manzie said. "It would be
chaos. With the Senior Bowl and the GoDaddy Bowl ... we have visitors coming from
across the country and we want to put on a world class sports product. What if
there was not adequate parking at Ladd? These individuals are giving a service
to the citizens of Mobile."

"I think generally you will find an attitude among city
staff that instead of spending our time hunting down these individuals, we have
much bigger offenders in Mobile with businesses opening without a business
license," Manzie said. "We don't need to bother these mom and pop operators who
are parking five or six cars."

Manzie also it didn't make sense to have people park near
Bel-Air Mall and be bused to the stadium.

"That's an extra expense to the city," Manzie said. "I think
this is the perfect remedy."